Hello Again!

Hi there everyone! I am trying this out on my own even though Mary-Leah showed me how to do it, but it's been so long ago (Memorial Day) that I have completely forgotten what she did/said! It's just being so damned old that is the problem!!

The time has passed so quickly since Memorial Day. We had a pretty good summer. Took a few day road trips here and there. The highlight of the summer was flying up to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, in August to see all the family who gathered there to welcome home Sydney (oldest granddaughter) and her husband, Stu, and their sweet, darling one year old baby, Kaden! He was the highlight of every gathering we had and surely entertained us at all times, even in his tears, as his little face can scrunch up into an almost completely un-visable face!! haha He definitely "ruled" us all and none of us could stop picking him up and kissing his face off! He told Mary-Leah (daughter #3) "I wa you" (translated I Love You)! He said it twice to her and never once to us...BUMMER!! haha But he did hug me one time and said, as he patted my shoulder, "Mimi"....that was all it took me to fall more in love!! We also went to CDA to attend our daughter's (daughter #2, Monica) annual "pig pickin.'" They cook a whole pig, this one about 200 pounds, for all night then we have a feast the next afternoon. It's always a lot of fun and this year was no exception. It's always nice to meet their friends, but this year Kemo and Candice and their family weren't there and everyone missed them a lot! They now live in England! I think they missed all of us as much as we all missed them.

Back in April our nephew, Kyle Patton, moved to Arizona from Ohio. He lived with us for a few months, then got his own digs and new furniture, found a beautiful new "lady friend" (Amie Mace) and is now enjoying his life as a really good looking Scottsdale guy with a great girlfriend, so all is well with him. That doesn't mean all is well with us! My God, we miss him like crazy!! It was so fun to come home after work at Wal-Hell and have your drink prepared, a few snacks put out and the scrabble game on the table! One weekend night I stayed up talking to him until 4 a.m!! I haven't been up that long in years! I paid for it the next day, sleeping until about 3 p.m.....haha Kyle has been coming to see us for several years now and we have yet to figure out who any young person would want to visit US...the people who are older than dirt, but he still came and we loved it! His dad is my favorite brother, so we welcomed him with open arms..."mi casa es su casa"....I think I have lived amongst the Mexicans too long! ha

Bill is once again teaching special education at school this year. This will be his last year at this particular school as they are joining some schools together, so next year he may be in a different school. He loves teaching and works with some very nice teachers who think he's the nicest person in the whole school system! I think he is, too.... The "academics" are so weird and really freak me out at times. They all have so many problems, personally and professionally, and even the shrinks there are nutty looking! Scary place to me! haha None of you can repeat this, of course!

We have been planning a trip to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, for December to visit Sydney, Stu and Kaden. All was going well until Bill got sick again. His doctor put him in the hospital last week for several days for tests, etc. This will be a huge bill, so we're keeping our fingers crossed that our insurance will cover enough of it so that we won't have to "dig" into what we have earmarked for that trip! We will know more tomorrow, Sept. 29, after talking with our banker! Anyway, we really want to make this trip as it's a trip of a lifetime so pray for us that it will work out. Sydney and Stu have a lot planned for us to do while there, but it will just be nice to be with them, alone, without other family around and that we can have Kaden to ourselves for the time we're there! Is that being selfish...? If so, that's too damned bad! haha

If you think about it for a minute or two, we are planning a trip to one of the "hottest" spots in the world....maybe we should go see that nutty shrink at school to make sure we are still sane! Nothing can stop us from going, except the lack of funds, but I'm sure everything will work out one way or another! Bill's doctor said (for now) that there isnt' any reason he could not go, but also stated that "after all December is a long way off".....OK..so what do you mean by that, Doc?

Our work is still work...frustrating, non-invigorating, and plain boring! Same old shit all the time! It's always fun to go each day, however, to see our less-than-qualified managers running around like chickens with their heads cut off... (have you ever seen a chicken without it's head, running here and there until death takes over and he finally flops on the ground while the absent head has already taken on a weird look in its eyes)...anyway, that sort of defines our group of managers! Everyday we have new "rules" in my area. Bill finds out that there are new rules for the greeters and he ignores them as I do and life goes on in Wal Hell. By the way, Kyle coined this term "Wal Hell" and it's the best definition of our biggest retailer in the world! haha Most people like to know that their company is the "biggest" or the "best" of whatever, but in this case, it's almost embarrassing to say you work for Wal Hell as there are so many people out there who hate it for not being "union" or have no benefits, etc., etc.....They actually do have good benefits, but thank the Lord above the union has been kept out. That would totally ruin it in about 20 minutes! So much for you union-ers out there...maybe I have offended some of you, but everyone has their own definition of what GOOD unions do and DON'T DO! Whatever..... : )

Of course I don't know how - yet - to put pictures on this, but I will keep trying! I love the pictures that everyone uses and enjoy looking at them over and over.

I can't say when I'll get more on here, but when I have time I will write more.

Love from the true Land of Sunshine! Dianne and Bill/Mimi and Papa/friend and friend